The note looks at the intellectualproperty rights connected with the use, and value ofmedicinal plants, which has become a metaphor to describeindigenous ownership of traditional knowledge, generatingoptions for contractual mechanisms to ensure benefits returnto source cultures, and countries. However, through time,the extinction rate of species, and cultures continues toaccelerate, while human health further deteriorates fromdiseases for which no cure exists. The note seeks answers onhow to apply lessons from the Convention on BiologicalDiversity, and how to move on to implementing such lessons.Through the case study in Nigeria, practical informationshows how countries, companies, and cultures can cooperate.It explains the work of the Bio-Resources Development andConservation Program, organized as a focal point forcollaborative research, that builds technical skills inNigeria, thus generating pharmaceutical leads that targettherapeutic categories for tropical diseases. Within thissetting, Sharman Pharmaceuticals established a researchrelationship with scientific institutions, villagecommunities, and traditional healers, which uses the scienceof ethno-botany, and that of natural product chemistry,medicine and pharmacology, to create an efficient drugdiscovery process. Recommendations on remaining issues, andfuture progress are presented.
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